Anderson had to find a way past the left-hander in the tiebreak to stay alive in the tournament. Verdasco had him out of court at 5-4, but hit long to bring up set point, then Anderson belted down a big serve to convert, and force the match to a fifth set.

In such a tight match, a mistake and a moment of power or inspiration can tilt the balance.

5:22pm on 18 Jan 2013

Thank you for your patronage today, that completes our coverage of Day Five. theage.com.au will bring further analysis and reports throughout the evening, and our live coverage recommences tomorrow morning at 11am.

Today's highlights at a glance (details below)

Novak Djokovic through in straight sets to the fourth round. Made to work, but never troubled.

Ekaterina Makarova hangs on to beat Marion Bartoli in three sets after a last-set stumble.

Janko Tipsarevic twice comes from a set down before oulasting Julien Benneteau in five enthralling sets.

Nicolas Almagro wins two tiebreakers, then hammers Jerzy Janowicz 6-1, to win in three sets in 125 minutes.

And Kei Nishikori's trainer goes into sports science folklore for his incredibly detailed, multi-layered ankle-strapping virtuosity at the end of a tight first set against Evgeny Donskoy. Nishikori easily won the subsequent two sets, and the match, after the mummifying of his lower leg.

Another 43,904 fans enjoyed the Australian Open day sessions on day five. Photo: Getty Images

5:09pm on 18 Jan 2013

Na Li of China serving in her third round match against Sorana Cirstea. Photo: Getty Images

A dominant performance from Nishikori after a tightly-contested first set. The Japanese No.1 won 11 points to 78 and took early leads in the final two sets. As I have harped on about earlier, he had his left ankle re-strapped at the end of the first set, a thorough job which apparently had great therapeutic effects.

Tipsarevic is through to the fourth round, which is beginning to become a habit for him at grand slams. His second five-setter in a row was hard-fought to the end. He says such games are good for the rowd, but not his legs, and he is feeling very tired and lucky to have won. An ice bath is his reward for a slogging come from behind effort.

Tipsarevic was gracious in victory, thanking fans and his opponent. He says rest is on his agenda as he has "played enough tennis" in Chennai and Melbourne recently.

The fans really embraced that match, and gave both warriors heartfelt applause at its completion.

We all know Ana Ivanovic once dated Australian golfer Adam Scott, but after her win today over Jelena Jankovic, she revelaed that she has another secret weapon down under - an uncle in the southern suburb Mentone.

She says he has a birthday next week, and he has requested that she stick around utl then. Which would of course involve winning her way to the business end of the Open.

Ivanovic confirmed that she does enjoy the support she receives in Australia.

"... I really feel the crowd is behind me. It does help a lot in the tough moments. You know, you have your adrenalinekicking in when they are sort of cheering loud and singing songs. It is very special. I enjoy it a lot."

Ivanovic said she worked on her upper body strength between seasons, keen to add more power to her groundstrokes.

"I'm still working on my upper body strength. I think in the offseason I really did improve a lot in my fitness. I feeloverall a lot more stable on the court and a lot more powerful as well. I think my strokes are heavier, as well, and that's something I worked on a lot.

"I'm happy to see the results, and I definitely move a lot better and faster. Still, there is a lot of room for improvement, but, you know, some things take time. But I'm very, very happy that this hard work is paying off."

Tipsarevic looked in big trouble early in this game, but he has grown more commanding the longer the slugfest has progressed. Statistically, little separates the two men - Bennetau has won two more points overall, but the Serbian has created more break chances and been marginally more efficient at the big moments.

Seven's press release reminds us hat Hewitt is the last Australian to defeat Federer on tour - in Halle in 2010. I don't think too many of you would have had trouble guessing the name of the last Aussie to peform that feat.

But I agree that Hewitt brings "insightful and current thinking on the game" to the broadcasts. His commentary might have helped bring around some fans who previously found the gutsy dual-slam-winner abrasive.

The Federer-Tomic match will be first up on Rod Laver Arena in the evening session, airing from 6.30pm AEDT.

4:27pm on 18 Jan 2013

You thought I was exagerrating about the Nishikori ankle stapping, didn't you? This is the first layer, in minute one of The Great Strap between sets one and two. There was plenty more to come. Photo: Reuters

Total domination in the second set from the Japanese star, who is defying the most heavily strapped ankle imaginable to set a winning pace. he has won 80 points to 55, created four break points to two, and hit 24 winners to 10.

That ankle strapper is magical - it was a reasonably tight match until the medical time-out between sets.

Benneteau has more winners (42-36) and overall points won (114-107) but the match is level, after Tipsarevic revived his fortunes in that fourth set. It is anyone's guess who will prevail from here. They have met twice, but only once in recent times - a straight sets win to Tipsarevic at the French Open last year. Tipsarevic is 16-8 in five-set matches; Benneteau 7-5.

The MCA crowd is right into this one. The best atmosphere is found on the outdoor courts, where the less well-heeled are less restrained with their emotional responses, and the beer and wine flows a little more freely in the late afternoon.

Stepanek saved a match point with a typically dogged scrambling effort when forced to back-track to retrieve a brilliant lob. Even the chair umpire smiled at that, and it brough the biggest cheer of the day from the centre court crowd. But the inevitable came next point, with the clinical Djokovic closing out a game he always had in control.

Stepanek atacked the net 67 times and chased down every ball, delivering more value for money than most players beaten in straight sets. he won a lot of fans with his determined, good-natured approach today.

Novak Djokovic did what he had to do against Radek Stepanek. Photo: Reuters

Stepanek has made Djokovic work, especially in the third set, but he never really challenged, and with a tiebreak beckoning, he forced the Stepanek serve to 0-40, and shortly thereafter broke his serve for the third time in the match.

Demonstrative Czech Radek Stepanek charmed the rowd with his antics during his loss to Novak Djokovic. Photo: Reuters

Verdasco pounces upon a loose service game from Anderson and takes the set with a break of serve. The better players have extra gears - they apply extra effort at key points of games, and often gain an advantage which seemes disproportionate to the general flow of play of a set.

The hot-tempered Spanish left-hander just get belting the ball back at Anderson, and the South African, momentarily, cracked.

A baseliner's battle, with the two agile court harriers chasing each other's groundstrokes down all over the court. Nothing much in it until the tiebreak. Nishikori is having a medical time-out to get his left ankle re-strapped.

That thing is mummified. More tape than the tax office. More covered up than a cyclist's drug habits. It is encased, enbalmed. Taped around and around and up and down - even between his toes. If this is what a tennis player does to protect his lower extremities, how long before AFL footballers will need an ankler for each leg? There will be an 'arm's race', with clubs who can afford more expert anklers gaqining an advantage over teams with one fat old traditional strapper.

The Frenchman is enjoying the support of a raucous crowd on MCA. For whatever reason, some Aussies ahve adopted Julien as their own. "Let's go Benneteau," they are chanting, perhaps to ingratiate themselves with some good-looking French fans alongside them.

Critics of the lack of originality of tennis chanting forget that there isn't much time between points for anything but short, simple, phrases. No time for whole trumpet solos here, Barmy Army, the librarian in the high chair will shoosh you if you try anything over five seconds.

Janowicz is renowned worldwide for his temper, after an on-court meltdown earlier in the week. But he is a significant rising talent.

Janowicz had a breakthrough year in 2012, moving 195 places in the year-end rankings to finish at No. 26. His best result was reaching the final at Paris-1000, recording two Top 10 wins over No. 3 Andy Murray and No. 9 Janko Tipsarevic before falling to No. 5 David Ferrer in the final.

3:23pm on 18 Jan 2013

Evgeny Donskoy (RUS) v Kei Nishikori (JPN) [16], 4-4 Show Court Two

Donskoy is looking to become the first Russian to reach the round of 16 on his Grand Slam debut since Marat Safin at the1998 French Open. The last player to reach the round of 16 on his Grand Slam debut was David Goffin at Roland Garros in 2012.

Nishikori is the highest-ranked Japanese man in ATP World Tour Rankings since 1973. He had the nickname 'Project 45' as a major goal was to get him to No. 45 in the rankings, which would be one spot better than the highest by any Japanese man (Shuzo Matsuoka). He recorded a career-high ranking of No. 15 in October 2012.

3:18pm on 18 Jan 2013

A press release from a betting agency says 'patriotic money' is coming for Bernard Tomic to beat Roger Federer in their much-anticipated clash Saturday night. Although 51% of said monies are going on The Fed, and Tomic has drifted from $5.50 to $6.05. I'd like some of that 'patriotic money'.

I am going to accede, announce myself as a nation state, and declare ten million dollars my subjects. If I speak kindly enough of this currency, perhaps it will become "patriotic" towards me...